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BROTHERS IN ART
STUDIES IN
WILLIAM HOLMAN-HUNT, O.M., D.C.L.
AND
JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS, Bart., D.C.L., P.R.A.
BROTHERS IN ART
STUDIES IN
WILLIAM HOLMAN-HUNT, O.M., D.C.L
AND
JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS, Bart., D.C.L.. P.RA.
WITH
VERSE INTERPRETATIONS
ILLUSTRATED WITH
TWENTY-ONE REPRODUCTIONS
IN PHOTOGRAVURE
London
THE EPWORTH PRESS
J. ALFRED SHARP
ERRATA.
Page io.
— ' Christ in the House of His Parents is reproduced
'
WITH
VERSE INTERPRETATIONS
BY
H. W. SHREWSBURY
author of
" Visions of an Artist," etc.
ILLUSTRATED WITH
TWENTY-ONE REPRODUCTIONS
IN PHOTOGRAVURE
TLon6on
THE EPWORTH PRESS
J. ALFRED SHARP
First Edition, 1920
JUL 1 7 1967
;\
JOHN LEWIS PATON, ESQ., M.A.,
H. W. Shrewsbury.
September lo, 1920.
CONTENTS
CHAP.
I. BROTHERS IN ART THE LIFE-STORY OF W. HOL-
:
'
The Light of the World.' ' St. Bartholomew's Day.
VII. VICTIMS 127
The Scapegoat.' The Blind
....
' ' Girl.'
by Holman-Hunt
for '
The Finding of the Saviour in the Temple and The Two Gentlemen
' '
....
'
2. '
59
3. '
THE HUGUENOT (Millais) '
65
4.
5.
'
'
Hunt) .........
THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA
77
6. '
THE HIRELING SHEPHERD (Holman-Hunt) '
. 85
7. '
THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE (Millais) '
. 91
8. '
STRAYED SHEEP (Holman-Hunt) '
97
9. '
THE KNIGHT-ERRANT (Millais) '
103
10. *
THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD (Holman-Hunt) '
. 109
11. 'MERCY: ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S DAY' (Millais) 119
THE SCAPEGOAT (Holman-Hunt)
12.
.... 125
' '
13. '
THE BLIND GIRL (Millais) '
135
14. '
(Holman-Hunt) .......
THE FINDING OF THE SAVIOUR IN THE TEMPLE
141
15. '
CHRIST
(Millais)
IN
........
THE
.... 155
' '
17. '
THE VALE OF REST (Millais) '
163
18.
19.
'
'
Hunt) ........
THE TRIUMPH OF THE INNOCENTS
(Millais)
169
177
SORROW (Holman-Hunt) 185
20.
....
• '
21. '
SPEAK, SPEAK !
'
(Millais) I9X
WILLIAM HOLMAN-HUNT, O.M., D.C.L.
SIR JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS, D.C.L., P.R.A.
13
CHAPTER I
BROTHERS IN ART:
The Life-Story of W. Holman-Hunt and Sir John
Everett Millais
'
Bacchus and Ariadne as one of the finest specimens
'
can see no reason wh}' your son should take up thp pro-
fession of art.' To Millais's father he said, '
Better
make him a chimney-sweep than an artist.' But when
the boy's drawings were shown, especially when there
and then he sketched for the President the fight of Hector
with Achilles, the great Academician was amazed, and
reversed his judgement. It now became a plain duty
to fit the boy for his manifest vocation. Permission
was secured for him to sketch in the British Museum.
BROTHERS IN ART 23
friend '
Lorenzo and Isabella.' A long talk in Millais's
studio arising out of Holman-Hunt 's difficulty as to
the treatment of the figure of Christ in a contemplated
picture of '
Christ and the two Maries (a picture com- '
tions —
faces and limbs aU of one pattern an S-shaped ;
two friends, was rejected, and The Eve of St. Agnes,' '
Millais's '
Lorenzo and Isabella.' Gabriel Rossetti's
'
Girlhood of the Virgin Mary '
should have been there
also, but to gain a week he sent it to the Hyde Park
GaUery. This not only gave a week longer for com-
pleting the picture, but, since this Gallery opened before
the Academy, his picture was before the public a week
earlier. The three pictures were each marked with the
wonder-provoking monogram P.R.B. Rossetti's picture
sold for eighty guineas, Millais's for one himdred and
fifty. Holman-Hunt's was left on his hands. This
was disappointing, for he had urgent need of money
to continue his work. His landlord gave him notice
to quit and seized his belongings. He was reduced to
sore straits, but through the influence of Augustus W.
Egg a purchaser was found for '
Rienzi,' and the hundred
guineas given reUeved the immediate pressure. The
Athenaeum praised Rossetti and somewhat severely
handled the other two artists. On the whole, criticism
was mildly unfavourable. But the storm had not yet
broken.
The autumn of 1849 Holman-Hunt spent with Rossetti
in France and Belgium, a hoHday of varied and delight-
ful experiences. Returning, he took a studio in Chelsea.
Millaiscame back from a visit to Oxford and completed
a picture suggested by a sermon heard there, Christ '
agree in all their views, but they became none the less
excellent friends. During this week an amusing incident
happened. A notable phrenologist in the Strand was
attracting much attention. He had declared Tenny-
son to possess powers that should make him the greatest
poet of the age. Ruskin suspected that Tennyson had
unconsciously revealed himself, and begged Millais to
go, offering to pay the fee. Somewhat reluctantly
Millais consented. The phrenologist's room was
abundantly adorned with busts and portraits of celebrities,
to which he called his sitter's attention. Millais mani-
fested sublime ignorance. Who might this bloke be, and
that old Johnny? After examination the phrenologist
36 BROTHERS IN ART
faction, '
Ah, my dear friend, that is all you know !
who, far from painting from Nature, did all their work
in their studios, painted trees in their landscapes from
a single leaf or piece of bark, and fields from a single
blade of grass. But did he know them personally ?
Oh, yes, personally, and they were thorough charlatans ;
tion. But the battle was still far from won. Much
hostileand damaging criticism had yet to be faced.
In June Millais went with the Ruskins to Scotland.
He painted a portrait of Ruskin, perhaps the best, at
a turn of the Uttle river Finlass, near Callander. It
commenced in October
Millais The Vale of Rest.' '
dictum was
—
Hopelessly fallen.' But Thackeray and
'
experiences —
came to the artist breakfast with Gladstone
at CarltonHouse Terrace a walking-tour through Corn-
;
Mite,' '
The Flood,' and '
A Knight-Errant,' and in
October he carried out his long-cherished desire to paint
landscape, with what success has been already told.
The porter of the station near which Chill October '
59
CHAPTER II
No word to be spoken.
No pledge to be broken.
Just this silent token,
Dear heart, I pray thee, O sweetheart, I pray.
*
"Only a handkerchief " ! Useless this strife !
65
DEATH VERSUS DISHONOUR 67
'
*
The Huguenot
white cross in his cap. All who were not thus marked
were subject to indiscriminate slaughter. On that
70 BROTHERS IN ART
71
CHAPTER III
LOVE'S HAZARDS
'
The Two Gentlemen of Verona '
eye for the most dramatic episode he seized upon the great
reconciliation scene at the close of the play. This episode
demanded Holman-Hunt
for its setting forest scenery.
went to Sevenoaks in Kent, and found precisely what he
required in the wide spaces and lovely glades of Knole
Park. Dante Gabriel Rossetti accompanied him, in-
tending to paint a background for one of his own pictures,
but the October winds blew the leaves about, disturbing
his work, and in disgust he abandoned his picture and con-
tented himself with watching the progress of his friend's.
The amount of work accompUshed during those bleak
October days can be judged from the wealth of detail
in the picture — the trunks of the beeches, their mossy
73
74 BROTHERS IN ART
roots, the mast upon the ground, the grass and the fungi,
the whole Ht up by brilliant sunshine, giving beautiful
effects of lightand shadow. So much accomplished the
artist returned to town and sought for models. W. P.
Frith lent him armour
—
the waistcoat and trousers
'
(millais)
Upon a bough
A robin whistles, o'er thee gaily swinging,
But, slowly sinking, thou, ah ! thou
Some strange, sweet, melancholy dirge art singing.
Sleep maiden now.
And blue forget-me-nots and roses red
Shall deck a crystal casket for the dead.
77
LOVE'S HAZARDS 79
'
*
Ophelia
Laertes
Lay her in the earth
And from her fair and unpolluted flesh
May violets spring ! I tell thee, churlish priest,
A ministering angel shall my sister be
When thou liest howling.
LOVE'S HAZARDS 8i
fect ?
'
Millais exclaimed. Willow-herb in full flower
crowned the farther bank, irises roseup by the water
edge, a profusion of wild flowers lay on the surface and
scented the meadow-land, and the clear stream flowed
tranquiUy between grassy banks under a canopy of
foHage. Here set up his easel.
Millais Two imles
away up-stream Holman-Hunt worked upon his
'
Hirehng Shepherd.' The artists walked each
morning from their lodgings, first at Surbiton and
afterwards at Farm, to a stile
Worcester Park
which gave access to the meadows and the stream.
There they parted for their day's work and met
again in the evening. They rose at six o'clock, were
F
82 BROTHERS IN ART
pictures.
Their work was not without hindrances. Two swans
greatly interfered \sdth Millais, destroying at times
every water-weed within reach on the precise spot
he was painting ; flies were a perpetual nuisance
a bull roamed the fields haymakers swarmed
; inquisitive
round the artists with bold requests for baksheesh, and
a farmer threatened them with a summons for trespass-
ing upon his land. But right through the autumn
months into the keen frosts of December the artists
worked on, and then returned to their studios to paint
the same year. The picture was sold for three hundred
guineas, and finally acquired for the National Gallery
of British Art.
'THE HIRELING SHEPHERD'
(holman-hunt)
'
Tis the hawk-moth, the death's-head, ah shepherd,!
beware
The symbol of pleasure, of ease, and of beauty
Divorced from fidelity, scorning at duty.
And the imprint of death will be always found there.
85
CHAPTER IV
appears as '
miniken '
; in other editions as '
minnikin.'
Chambers's Twentieth-CenUiry Dictionary gives the word
'
minikin '
a diminutive from the old Dutch minne, love,
with the meaning, as a noun, of '
httle darhng,' and as an
adjective small.' ' Bayley's Seventeenth-Century Dictionary
has '
minnekin,' from the Saxon for a nun, and the
significance '
a nice dame, a mincing lass, a proud minks.'
From whichever source Shakespeare's word is derived, it
91
ALERT OLD AGE 93
'
* The North- West Passage
done '
—
that is the spirit that makes a great nation.
Not a quixotic pursuit of mad and impossible ambitions,
but a cool, reasoned judgement of what comes
within the range of the practicable, and then no
yielding under plea of difficulty and danger, but, once
the duty recognized, persistent and unflinching effort to
accomplish it.
97
CHAPTER V
PERIL AND RESCUE
'
Peril :
' Strayed Sheep
the price — —
three hundred guineas he arranged with the
artist to paint for seventy guineas a rephca of the group
of sheep in the picture. On consideration Holman-Hunt
preferred to paint instead an original study. After
commencing this he found it necessary to enlarge the
canvas, and the time occupied in painting the picture so
increased the cost that out-of-pocket expenses exceeded
the amount of the commission. Whilst recognizing,
therefore, Mr. Maude's claim, he asked to be allowed to
sell the picture and to make
him the rephca from the
for
'
Hireling Shepherd,' first agreed upon. The reply was
an offer of one hundred and twenty guineas, cheerfully
made and cheerfully accepted. The picture is now in
the possession of Mrs. George LiUie Craik.
For a background Hohnan-Hunt selected the Fairhght
near Hastings.
Cliffs Rooms were taken at CUvedale
Farm. Edward Lear, author of The Book of Nonsense,
desiring direction in his own work, accompanied the artist,
and proved a dehghtful companion. His extensive
99
100 BROTHERS IN ART
travels in Calabria, Albania, and Greece had furnished
him with hundreds of sketches and a rich fund of stories,
and in view of Holman-Hunt's contemplated visit to
the Holy Land Lear's hints on joume^dng in the East were
of pecuhar interest and value.
The painting of the picture on FairUght Cliffs was
greatly interfered with by bad weather. Equinoctial
gales, rain, and fog caused the loss of many days, Poor '
—
Shepherd picture a picture with an obvious allegorical
'
PERIL loi
lawlessness ?
(millais)
'
a wretched fate
Sir Knight,' she cried, '
'
Lady,' quoth he, '
thy nakedness.
Thy piteous state and disarray.
And thy defencelessness this day
Are more to thee than costliest dress.
'
Thy weakness is become thy might.
My loyal service here and now
I plight thee in a solemn vow
Upon my honour as a knight.'
'
*
The Knight-Errant
(holman-hunt)
Persuasion :
' The Light of the World '
enough '
and absolutely At the point where
refused.
the road entered the village two men declared they had
been there ten minutes but nobody had passed. Repeated
inquiries during following days elicited nothing. The
mystery was never solved. But the memory of the
incident suggested the figure for the picture. A canvas
was obtained and the picture commenced at once.
It was pamted on moonUght nights in the old farm
orchard. Happily, though winter was at hand, the
leaves and fruit had not all disappeared. For protec-
tion from the cold the artist had a httle hut made of
hurdles and sat with his feet in a sack of straw, working
from 9 p.m. till five o'clock in the morning, on the
first occasion frightening, and frightened by, the village
PERSUASION 113
His alone.
The history of this picture notably illustrates the
wisdom of leaving to time's verdict all sincere and
patient work. The judgement of the Press in 1854
PERSUASION 115
the sign of His reign over the body and the soul.' Also,
the artist explains, a night scene is represented to
illustrate the saying, '
Thy word is a lamp unto my
feet,' and to enforce the caution to sleeping souls, '
The
night is far spent, the day is at hand,' and he adds the
significant warning, '
The symboHsm was designed to
elucidate, not to mystify, truth.'
Does this picture indicate a request for admission,
or is this a summons ? Is it the desire of the kingly
visitor to enter into this mean abode, or is this a call
sins, or its gaiety or its sorrow, and the plea of the Christ
that it should open this long-closed door, and, forsaking
the poor tenement, find without the '
delectable fruit
for the soul's dainty feast ' and travel with Christ through
PERSUASION 117
(millais)
'
Come !
'
Grim call of the holy priest.
The soldier responding, with unbuckled sword.
Goes forth to destroy the accursed of the Lord
Sweet womanhood mercy with judgement would blend
'
Hands off, woman Death by the sword be their end.
!
They shall perish this day from the face of the earth
from the mightiest unto the least.'
"9
COERCION 121
Bartholomew's Day
'
•
Mercy : St.
ideas, but they did not exercise severity upon the persons
of those they considered in error. They combated false
doctrine by appeals to reason and loyalty, and if argu-
ments failed, the extremxC measure was the removal of
the offender from the community, lest the contagion of
heresy should spread. But with the alliance of the Church
and the State new policy was
in the fourth century a
inaugurated. The arm was invoked to enforce
of the law
the decrees of ecclesiastical councils, and as the Church
departed more and more widely from the simplicity in
doctrine and ritual of the apostohc and sub-apostolic
days, it became more rigorous in its measures to suppress
all lapses from the faith.' In the fourth and fifth
'
(holman-hunt)
xas
CHAPTER VII
VICTIMS
'
'
The Scapegoat
The first-fruits of Holnian-Hunt's long cherished desire
to visit the Holy Land and paint sacred story in the very
'
A pecuhar kind of goat, you can see, by the ears
they droop so,' and '
now ? Are
Is that the wilderness
'
you intending any others of the flock ?
to introduce
Press criticism gave but meagre praise. Academy
opinion was hostile, but the picture was weU placed
at the Exhibition of 1856, and the pubhc was won im-
mediately, so arresting was the subject both in its
strange beauty and in its evident symbohsm.
The artist has combined in his representation Rab-
binical lore with the brief scriptural allusions to the
scapegoat. According to the account in Leviticus,
'
the goat on which the lot feU for Azazel ' was sent
away '
for Azazel into the wilderness.' Azazel was
the supposed prince of demons inhabiting the wilderness
VICTIMS 133
(millais)
135
136 BROTHERS IN ART
The inward visions of the soul,
The heart's pure ecstasies,
The soaring thoughts that spread and rise
To a long-hoped-for goal
When life shall yield no measured dole,
When, sight restored again.
As the mean contents of a bowl
To seas that sweep from pole to pole.
Shall be this narrow world of pain
To some bright, limitless domain.
VICTIMS 137
'
*
The Blind Girl
No ; Thou mine
art
And I am Thine ;
'
My Father's business every hour employs ?
'
141
CHAPTER VIII
'
And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands ?
Then he shall answer. Those with which I was wounded in the house
of my friends '
(Zech. xiii. 6).
'Tis not to the cross that, once only, men nailed Thee,
Not Calvary only Thy sacred flesh rends
The Church of Thy planting has mocked Thee, assailed
Thee,
And wounded Thee sore in the house of Thy friends.
X55
CHAPTER IX
FOREBODINGS
'
'
The Shadow of Death
HoLMAN-HuNT reached England after his first visit to
*
O sweet, in this sweet Vale of Rest
From life's unrest to cease,
Here at the mighty mother's breast
To find unbroken peace !
163
FOREBODINGS 165
(holman-hunt)
Spirit-children, spirit-children,
Ghostly forms to earth returning
To attend the infant Christ,
Holy Innocents enticed
By a more than mortal yearning
Spirit-children, spirit-children.
For the Babe-King sacrificed.
169
CHAPTER X
'
Mine eyes and eke my heart
to Him I will advance
That plucked my feet out of the snare
Of sin and ignorance.
With mercy me behold,
to Thee I make my mone :
177 M
THE NOBLE ARMY OF MARTYRS 179
'
*
The Martyr of the Solway Firth
be shaken.
In 1684 one, James Renwick, a Covenanter with a
great reputation as a field preacher, pubUshed an
Apologetical Declaration. It was, in effect, a plea for
i8o BROTHERS IN ART
and a justification of the assassination of the enemies
of the Covenant. It was wholly disastrous in its effect,
since violence cannot but beget violence. The Privy
Council countered the Declaration with an order that
every subject, old or young, should solemnly abjure it,
(holman-hunt)
THE BEYOND
' '
Sorrow
In the period subsequent to the completion of The '
(millais)
To bond
knit again the
Of loving comradeship and mutual joy.
Has that far world no language to employ?
Thou wraith from the beyond.
If such thou art, Oh, speak ! oh, speak
191
THE BEYOND 193
*
Speak, Speak !
ture '
Speak, speak !
'
points to a quite different attitude
—a determined effort to break through the barriers that
separate the worlds of matter and spirit, and to find
Errant '
of his middle life, are other famous examples.
THE BEYOND 195